Faeriechild
by Cheshirekitteh141
Summary: An OC story- Dawn has always dreamed there was more to life than her hateful mother and lazy siblings. When she discovers there is, she can't help but explore. A whole new life is handed to her, but her old one haunts her day and night. She must keep this weakness hidden, for criminals hide 'round every corner, and more than a few have their eye on her.
1. Chapter 1

**Dear readers,**

 **Sorry if this FanFiction sucks I'm new at this and was just bored. I'll try to keep the chapters updated as much as possible and thanks for reading! Please leave your comments or whatever you do. Thanks!**

 **-Cheshirekitteh141**

Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where –"

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in

Wonderland

Chapter 1

Dallas, TX. May 17, 3:04 PM. Thursday.

Dawn was dreading going home.

She couldn't show it though, because what 13-year-old would want to stay at school forever? One who had no friends, that's who. She half-listened as her English teacher rambled on about how everyone in her class should read at least 30 minutes a night for 3 days a week or their brain's neurotransmitters would draw back and they wouldn't be able to think as fast and learning would become increasingly difficult for them and they would fall back and fail English.

Well, he didn't say all that, but that's what he meant, Dawn knew.

So, since she already read at least an hour a night if she wasn't being screamed at, Dawn felt no need to listen to his lecture. Instead, she fiddled with her small gold locket. It couldn't open and hadn't been able to for as long as Dawn could remember, yet her mom always insisted she wear it. The one time she had ever taken it off, her mom had used Dawn's head to make a new dent in the wall, and if it hadn't been the middle of July, Dawn would've had to pay even more by lying to her best friend and saying she had gotten the giant bruise on her face from tripping down the stairs. After that her mom melted the clasp so she couldn't take it off even if she wanted to, which she didn't if it meant she would go through that again.

Even though her locket couldn't open, Dawn still found comfort in tracing the ridge around the edge of the small heart with her finger. When she was nervous about something like going home, Dawn would imagine what picture was inside. Her mom claimed it was empty, and her dad wasn't around to be questioned. But Dawn could sense that it held a picture, and an important one. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

The bell interrupted her thoughts, and Dawn grudgingly picked up her school supplies and hefted them to her locker. When she had her homework gathered in her backpack, she hurried out of the school. Her mom might come home early and she didn't want to be screamed at for wearing leggings with only a long shirt over them. She would change into shorts when she got home.

After she finished texting her mom that she had arrived safely home, Dawn quickly changed into her old pair of jean shorts and a faded Batman tee shirt that was older than she was. She sighed in the air conditioning; it had been a humid day and not a cloud blocked the merciless heat of the sun on the walk home. She started laundry, then switched out the dishwasher knowing that both of those tasks not being done could easily lead to a long night of screaming and yelling. Then she pulled out her phone.

Her mom was almost always home after 4:15, and sometimes was even later. Her two brothers and sister didn't come home until about 5:00 so for the time between when she came home and when her mom did, Dawn had the most sacred non-material thing in a teen girl's life- privacy.

Dawn pulled up the bookmarked webpage devoted to most recent Teen Titan news and latest rumors. For the last 6 years of her life, Dawn had been hooked on the Teen Titans. She may not have had any of their dolls, posters, or replicas of their giant T shaped tower, but she still considered herself their biggest and most dedicated fan. Raven was her favorite; when she was just a little kid she had stood up to her father, TRITON, and told him she wanted to help the world, not destroy it. Dawn wanted confidence like that, to be able to fight back or even say something when her mom got in one of her bad moods.

On the newsfeeds there was a live video of the Teen Titans battling a giant slime monster. Dawn wished, not for the first time, that she was there alongside them, fighting. 'If I was there, I could just stop everything and-' wait, what? Dawn shook her head. Stop everything? As in, freeze time? Yeah, right. It was a fantasy that occurred in her dreams more and more, but she knew she could never do such a thing. Still...

No. She was not going to literally go crazy over the idea of being a Teen Titan. To put her mind back in it's place, she quickly searched, 'Signs of being a metahuman.' Opening the first page that came up in the results, Dawn quickly skimmed the list of signs of being a metahuman. 'Glowing eyes.' Duh. 'Visions. Voices. Unnatural temperature in and around body.' Dawn knew all of these by heart, as she had been on this page more times than she could count when she was a little girl and prayed she had some sort of power that could get her out of the hellhole of her life. She had gotten over that phase by the time she was 9. Dawn skimmed the bottom of the page, which usually held related links to quizzes, blogs, anime, and everything else under the sun about being or finding out if you are a metahuman. Instead she found something she immediately regretted reading: 'Note: Signs may not appear at birth, but often instead at times of major change (death of family member, break-up with significant other, 16th, 13th, or 15th birthday, etc.)' This one little disclaimer planted a seed of doubt and her mind immediately started to water it with everything that had happened since her 13th birthday. 'What if...' and that was her cue to clamp off that idea. She turned off her phone just in time to hear a car door slam shut just outside, a sign that Dawn's mom was home. She sighed and slipped her phone under her pillow.

'What if...'


	2. Chapter 2

**Dear readers,**

 **Sorry this chapter is so much shorter than chapter one. I didn't want too much to happen and was about to fall asleep so I just wrapped up the end quickly. Chapter three is about the same length- sorry in advance- but four and on are longer. Thanks for reading!**

 **-Cheshirekitteh141**

Chapter 2

That night, Dawn's question wracked her brain. 'What if I am metahuman, what if I stood up to my mom like Raven did to Triton, what if what if what if?' When she finally fell asleep, she had a terrible nightmare.

'Where am I?'

'You are here, and I am here.'

'But where is 'here'?'

'Here is where you must listen, for life is not only the path from birth to grave. A dull, ugly rock may on the inside hold precious gems that could solve your every problem.'

'But I don't have a dull rock, full of gems or otherwise.'

'But you do. Listen. Listen to your heart. '

'But-'

'Listen to your heart. Listen. LISTEN.'

"LISTEN!" Dawn screamed to no one. She blinked and realized she was standing on her bed. "How did I get up here?" She jokingly murmured to herself. She sat down and leaned back onto her pillows, hoping to catch an hour or so more of sleep before school the next day. She realized she was sweating though she felt ice cold. She was too nervous. Absentmindedly she reached for her locket to calm herself down. Her fingers found the groove where the heart halves used to be able to come apart to reveal a picture. She gazed out the window by her bed. The sky was the strange blue of dawn, with a few wisps of clouds in the sky. 'Dawn. Just like me.' She smiled at the strange feeling of contentment that suddenly filled her. A giggle escaped her. She felt light, airy, until her pinky found the spring release button on the locket and

'Click.'

Click, a sound louder than a scream at midnight. Click, a sound so simple that led to the answer to a question so simple that Dawn had pondered her whole life. Click, the noise never made though Dawn had pushed that button a million times. Click, and Dawn's feeling of contentment, of lightness, of peace vanished like the flame of a birthday candle.

'Why now,' was her first thought, then 'what's inside?' Followed by 'should I look?' That question was immediately answered by 'YES!' Dawn lifted the locket pendant so she could see. Inside one half was a picture of Dawn's mother, and in the other heart was a photo of a man with blonde hair and purple-blue eyes. The photo bulged forward like it was too thick for the frame, and when Dawn looked closer she saw a folded up piece of paper tucked behind it. With trembling hands Dawn unfolded it and read:

'Dear Dawn,

'I'm sorry I haven't been the father you deserve all these years, but now I must at least tell you this. You are not as your siblings are, for I am not their father. You are very different, and I believe you can think of how different, for it is a faerie child's nature to wonder and doubt that life is just as they see it. You must search or you will never get the answers you seek. Ask your mother about me. I know how she is, but please be brave. If you're not confident enough, mention faeries. She will talk. Follow your instincts. They'll lead you to answers.

-Dad

(P.S: Wonder.)'

Dawn was confused, but mostly she was just tired. She knew who her dad was. Why did he leave her such a weird letter? She decided she would do as the letter asked and question her mom, but first she would sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dear readers,**

 **Thank you so much for reading my story! Someone asked for a description of Dawn so here it is:**

 **Dawn is 13 years old. She has curlyish, really frizzy blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. She's about 5'3" and she's kind of skinny but not really. She's not to 'curvy,' if you know what I mean, and she has somewhat pale skin- though she tans very easily so she won't be pale later in the story. Dawn usually wears a black camisole and black leggings, with a bright multicolored short urban tribal style print dress. She wears brown boots that look kind of like Uggs because her feet are always cold. Everything she has looks kind of hard to run around in and stuff but it's specially altered (by herself) and is made of a light, breathable material so she never has a problem. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask! Thanks again for reading! :)**

 **-Cheshirekitteh141**

Chapter 3

Dawn woke up the next morning to the sound of yelling. Her brother Stephen had taken a shower and gotten the floor all wet, and her mom was furious. Dawn sighed as she slipped out of bed to get dressed. No shower this morning. I'll just take one tonight. Dawn was used to days like these, days where her siblings were in trouble and she wasn't. Dawn usually got ready silently, so her mom wasn't reminded about the daughter she had in the other room. Today would be no different. She checked Teen Titan news on her phone quickly, and saw that Raven was taking a trip to Texas. Huh. Maybe I'll see her. Dawn could keep her calm easily, and while the idea of meeting her idol was exhilarating, there were other things Dawn needed to put her mind to. 'Like clothes.'

She heard the front door open, then close again a few moments later. Her mom and siblings had left.

Dawn quickly finished getting ready and looked around her room, feeling like she had forgotten about something. On her desk lay the small piece of paper. The letter. Dawn was still confused about it, and had plenty of time before she needed to leave for school, so she unfolded and reread it. One part jumped out at her.

'it is a faerie child's nature to wonder and doubt that life is just as they see it.'

Was it saying she was a half-faerie? Whoever had written the letter seemed to think she was, but Dawn was almost certain not. Almost. She picked up her phone and did what she always did when she was confused; she googled it. She opened the Wiki page and read:

'Half-faeries are as they sound, half faerie sand half human. They are considered metahuman because of their tendency to have a certain gift or 'power.' All faeries are born with a unique gift that only one faerie possesses, This gene carries to the child 96% of the time, which means children who have one parent who is human and one faerie have a 96% chance of being a half-faerie. In 1409 a mother claimed to bear a child who was a half-faerie...'

Dawn skipped ahead to the important parts.

'Many of these children are unaware of their true genealogy for many years. This is because a phoenix feather has the ability to bind undiscovered powers, or to strengthen known ones. The human parent takes advantage of the child not knowing about their power, but half-faerie children naturally discover their powers because of their natural sense to doubt. Also the children can sense their power more and more as time goes on. Depending on the gift, children may overcome the phoenix feather's bindings as early as 7 or never. These phoenix feathers can be found in jewelry, false teeth, or other objects always kept with the child.'

The locket.

The dreams.

This was getting too crazy.

Her mom would laugh at her, or kill her, if she asked.

She looked down at her locket. Even if it wasn't true...

She had found that boost of confidence she needed, be it one based on complete craziness.

Dawn grabbed the chain of her locket and in one strong motion, tugged it as hard as she could.

 _Snap_!


	4. Chapter 4

**Dear readers,**

 **Thank you so much for still reading my story and for leaving such wonderful advice! It's really been helpful. My writing might change a little after chapter 7 or so, and I won't be able to post chapters nearly as quickly (I already have everything up to about halfway into chapter 7 written but want to see how you guys like it before I post it all), but I will be determined to write this story 'til the end! Thank you guys so much and please leave any and all advice you have! (Sorry if you hate it it's my first FanFiction and I wrote it at the start just to get the story out of my head.) Happy reading!**

 **-Cheshirekitteh141**

Chapter 4

Dawn didn't know what to expect, but for some reason she had expected _something_. Maybe something had happened, but only internally. Either way, she held her locket with it's broken chain in her hand, and finally did what she had always wanted to do; she dropped it in the trash.

Now for her next order of business: seeing if she was a metahuman. Freezing time was what all her dreams were themed around, but Dawn had no idea how she could actually _do_ the whole stopping-everything-in-the-entire-world. She looked at herself in the mirror on the wall. She looked like an ordinary girl, with too much hair and not enough clothes. Her neck was too wide and her legs were too short and her calves were too big. Most of her frizzy blonde hair covered the little bit of acne she had, but it also covered up her cornflower blue eyes. At least she had 'good, strong cheekbones,' as people said, though she never really understood that- her cheeks didn't look strong at all. Dawn was short and skinny and had tiny feet, and she was just too normal. But she wasn't, and she could feel that now, feel it more and more like a song slowly growing, and she couldn't wait until she reached the chorus.

Dawn closed her eyes, and behind them saw not black but bright, endless white. She smiled, in joy and freedom, and in excitement. Her childhood dreams were coming true! That reminded her of an old song she didn't quite know, yet her voice knew the tune and so she hummed. And Dawn sat alone, staring with her eyes closed at a white nothing while humming a tune that didn't exist to anyone, even her.

Sometime Dawn realized she either needed to figure out her power or go to school, which would end at 3:00 and result in her having to go home and face the consequences of taking off her locket. The latter didn't sound too tempting so she prayed she could figure her power out before the end of the school day. She switched out laundry again and glanced at the time. 6:49. She had plenty of time before she needed to leave. She did have enough time for a shower, after all. Humming a different (real) song now, Dawn grabbed a towel and turned on the shower. She slipped out of her clothes and stepped into the bathtub, switching the shower head on and grabbing the shampoo. As Dawn scrubbed her scalp her humming turned into singing, and, because Dawn loved music so much, she was pretty much dancing to the tune by the time the shampoo was rinsed out. A part of her mind said, "hey, let's snap along while this conditioner is workin' it's magic conditiony stuff" and the voice sounded pretty mellow and calm so Dawn agreed and snapped along.

After about 5 seconds she realized something was wrong. She froze in place, wondering what. Then she realized the water had stopped. She looked down at her hands, then snapped once.

The water started again.

She snapped again.

It stopped.

 _I can... turn off and on the shower?_ That was the lamest power Dawn had ever heard of, and if that was it she'd need to find some superglue for that locket. She turned around to look at the shower head, only to gasp.

Water droplets were floating in the air between her and the shower head.

She snapped her fingers. They sprayed into her eyes.

She snapped again. The drops stopped mid-fall and she cupped her hands to grab them out of the air. They puddled into her hands at her touch, but when she put her hands by her sides again to let them fall the droplets just sat in the air, slowly falling and very much resembling a lava lamp bubble.

She snapped her fingers. The water hit the shower floor with a loud _splash_!

So this was her power. Dawn wasn't too sure why, but she felt calm. Freakishly calm. Not really calm, but... content. Like she had sat in front of an impossible puzzle and someone came up and snapped their fingers and it was together in an instant. It felt like she was cheating, almost, but cheating at what? At life? Dawn deserved to cheat, deserved to have this power and it deserved to have her. She quickly finished up her shower and got dressed, thinking hard as she did. Imagine walking to school! She could spend almost all morning better readying herself for the day and spend literally no time walking to school. If she wasn't doing her schoolwork and she saw a teacher come over she could snap and have a page full of math in the blink of an eye. If her mom demanded to look through her phone she could easily delete any and all texts about guys and complaints about her mom and party plans and everything else she did that her mom would flip about... Wait. Her mom. Her mom didn't have total control anymore. She could do literally anything humanly possible and her mom could do absolutely nothing to stop her. She could leave and go to Jump City, CA and be a Teen Titan if she really wanted!

Wait. She COULD.

She could leave right now, leave behind her mom, her lazy siblings, her school enemies and heck her friends were just wannabes who thought she was the next recruit of the populars. She could leave everything behind and claim her favorite name ever, Cress (it was the name of the main character of a really good book she read when she was little) as her own. She could be a Teen Titan.

Just then there was a loud CRASH! outside and Dawn ran to investigate only to find Raven, THE RAVEN, standing in front of the front door, now lying in pieces on the ground.

"Freeze, demon. I don't know what you are but I know-"

 _Snap_ , and Dawn stood in silence, laughing to herself as she walked toward the frozen Raven. She was here! Sure, it wasn't the best of circumstances, but hey! Better than nothing!

Dawn wished she could unfreeze Raven, and the same voice that told her to snap said, "blow on her face."

Weird... but okay. She tried it, and it worked. Raven unfroze, yelling, "that you..." her words trailed off as a confused look came over her face. "How did you... Teleportation! Of course, I should have known, with that kind of energy..."

"Excuse me while I interrupt your completely wrong thoughts, but, like you, I don't know what I am either. However, I believe I am called a metahuman, and please stop yelling or you'll give me a headache."

"How dare you..." Raven snarled, but looked as confused as Dawn knew she probably was. Dawn quickly explained to Raven her very recent discoveries of the locket, the letter, and her power.

"A half-faerie..." Raven murmured. "Huh. You're one creature I've actually never met. Well, you can stop time, and I am a Teen Titan, and you're coming with me." And with that Raven opened a portal below their feet and they both fell into the black abyss.


	5. Chapter 5

Dear readers,

I haven't updated this story in so long because it's just a bad story. I had it all types up until where it ends now, but I don't have the time to delete all of the chapters posted before. Here it is, everything I've written so far on this story and everything I will write unless I get locked in a room for 8 months with a laptop. Then I might consider finishing it. Anyways, here it is. I don't own the Teen Titans. Also anyone who wants to continue this story is more than welcome.

Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where –"

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in

Wonderland

Chapter 1

Dallas, TX. May 17, 3:04 PM. Thursday.

Dawn was dreading going home.

She couldn't show it though, because what 13-year-old would want to stay at school forever? One who had no friends, that's who. She half-listened as her English teacher rambled on about how everyone in her class should read at least 30 minutes a night for 3 days a week or their brain's neurotransmitters would draw back and they wouldn't be able to think as fast and learning would become increasingly difficult for them and they would fall back and fail English.

Well, he didn't say all that, but that's what he meant, Dawn knew.

So, since she already read at least an hour a night if she wasn't being screamed at, Dawn felt no need to listen to his lecture. Instead, she fiddled with her small gold locket. It couldn't open and hadn't been able to for as long as Dawn could remember, yet her mom always insisted she wear it. The one time she had ever taken it off, her mom had used Dawn's head to make a new dent in the wall, and if it hadn't been the middle of July, Dawn would've had to pay even more by lying to her best friend and saying she had gotten the giant bruise on her face from tripping down the stairs. After that her mom melted the clasp so she couldn't take it off even if she wanted to, which she didn't if it meant she would go through that again.

Even though her locket couldn't open, Dawn still found comfort in tracing the ridge around the edge of the small heart with her finger. When she was nervous about something like going home, Dawn would imagine what picture was inside. Her mom claimed it was empty, and her dad wasn't around to be questioned. But Dawn could sense that it held a picture, and an important one. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

The bell interrupted her thoughts, and Dawn grudgingly picked up her school supplies and hefted them to her locker. When she had her homework gathered in her backpack, she hurried out of the school. Her mom might come home early and she didn't want to be screamed at for wearing leggings with only a long shirt over them. She would change into shorts when she got home.

After she finished texting her mom that she had arrived safely home, Dawn quickly changed into her old pair of jean shorts and a faded Batman tee shirt that was older than she was. She sighed in the air conditioning; it had been a humid day and not a cloud blocked the merciless heat of the sun on the walk home. She started laundry, then switched out the dishwasher knowing that both of those tasks not being done could easily lead to a long night of screaming and yelling. Then she pulled out her phone.

Her mom was almost always home after 4:15, and sometimes was even later. Her two brothers and sister didn't come home until about 5:00 so for the time between when she came home and when her mom did, Dawn had the most sacred non-material thing in a teen girl's life- privacy.

Dawn pulled up the bookmarked webpage devoted to most recent Teen Titan news and latest rumors. For the last 6 years of her life, Dawn had been hooked on the Teen Titans. She may not have had any of their dolls, posters, or replicas of their giant T shaped tower, but she still considered herself their biggest and most dedicated fan. Raven was her favorite; when she was just a little kid she had stood up to her father, TRITON, and told him she wanted to help the world, not destroy it. Dawn wanted confidence like that, to be able to fight back or even say something when her mom got in one of her bad moods.

On the newsfeeds there was a live video of the Teen Titans battling a giant slime monster. Dawn wished, not for the first time, that she was there alongside them, fighting. 'If I was there, I could just stop everything and-' wait, what? Dawn shook her head. Stop everything? As in, freeze time? Yeah, right. It was a fantasy that occurred in her dreams more and more, but she knew she could never do such a thing. Still...

No. She was not going to literally go crazy over the idea of being a Teen Titan. To put her mind back in it's place, she quickly searched, 'Signs of being a metahuman.' Opening the first page that came up in the results, Dawn quickly skimmed the list of signs of being a metahuman. 'Glowing eyes.' Duh. 'Visions. Voices. Unnatural temperature in and around body.' Dawn knew all of these by heart, as she had been on this page more times than she could count when she was a little girl and prayed she had some sort of power that could get her out of the hellhole of her life. She had gotten over that phase by the time she was 9. Dawn skimmed the bottom of the page, which usually held related links to quizzes, blogs, anime, and everything else under the sun about being or finding out if you are a metahuman. Instead she found something she immediately regretted reading: 'Note: Signs may not appear at birth, but often instead at times of major change (death of family member, break-up with significant other, 16th, 13th, or 15th birthday, etc.)' This one little disclaimer planted a seed of doubt and her mind immediately started to water it with everything that had happened since her 13th birthday. 'What if...' and that was her cue to clamp off that idea. She turned off her phone just in time to hear a car door slam shut just outside, a sign that Dawn's mom was home. She sighed and slipped her phone under her pillow.

'What if...'

Chapter 2

That night, Dawn's question wracked her brain. 'What if I am metahuman, what if I stood up to my mom like Raven did to Triton, what if what if what if?' When she finally fell asleep, she had a terrible nightmare.

'Where am I?'

'You are here, and I am here.'

'But where is 'here'?'

'Here is where you must listen, for life is not only the path from birth to grave. A dull, ugly rock may on the inside hold precious gems that could solve your every problem.'

'But I don't have a dull rock, full of gems or otherwise.'

'But you do. Listen. Listen to your heart. '

'But-'

'Listen to your heart. Listen. LISTEN.'

"LISTEN!" Dawn screamed to no one. She blinked and realized she was standing on her bed. "How did I get up here?" She jokingly murmured to herself. She sat down and leaned back onto her pillows, hoping to catch an hour or so more of sleep before school the next day. She realized she was sweating though she felt ice cold. She was too nervous. Absentmindedly she reached for her locket to calm herself down. Her fingers found the groove where the heart halves used to be able to come apart to reveal a picture. She gazed out the window by her bed. The sky was the strange blue of dawn, with a few wisps of clouds in the sky. 'Dawn. Just like me.' She smiled at the strange feeling of contentment that suddenly filled her. A giggle escaped her. She felt light, airy, until her pinky found the spring release button on the locket and

'Click.'

Click, a sound louder than a scream at midnight. Click, a sound so simple that led to the answer to a question so simple that Dawn had pondered her whole life. Click, the noise never made though Dawn had pushed that button a million times. Click, and Dawn's feeling of contentment, of lightness, of peace vanished like the flame of a birthday candle.

'Why now,' was her first thought, then 'what's inside?' Followed by 'should I look?' That question was immediately answered by 'YES!' Dawn lifted the locket pendant so she could see. Inside one half was a picture of Dawn's mother, and in the other heart was a photo of a man with blonde hair and purple-blue eyes. The photo bulged forward like it was too thick for the frame, and when Dawn looked closer she saw a folded up piece of paper tucked behind it. With trembling hands Dawn unfolded it and read:

'Dear Dawn,

'I'm sorry I haven't been the father you deserve all these years, but now I must at least tell you this. You are not as your siblings are, for I am not their father. You are very different, and I believe you can think of how different, for it is a faerie child's nature to wonder and doubt that life is just as they see it. You must search or you will never get the answers you seek. Ask your mother about me. I know how she is, but please be brave. If you're not confident enough, mention faeries. She will talk. Follow your instincts. They'll lead you to answers.

-Dad

(P.S: Wonder.)'

Dawn was confused, but mostly she was just tired. She knew who her dad was. Why did he leave her such a weird letter? She decided she would do as the letter asked and question her mom, but first she would sleep.

Chapter 3

Dawn woke up the next morning to the sound of yelling. Her brother Stephen had taken a shower and gotten the floor all wet, and her mom was furious. Dawn sighed as she slipped out of bed to get dressed. No shower this morning. I'll just take one tonight. Dawn was used to days like these, days where her siblings were in trouble and she wasn't. Dawn usually got ready silently, so her mom wasn't reminded about the daughter she had in the other room. Today would be no different. She checked Teen Titan news on her phone quickly, and saw that Raven was taking a trip to Texas. Huh. Maybe I'll see her. Dawn could keep her calm easily, and while the idea of meeting her idol was exhilarating, there were other things Dawn needed to put her mind to. Like clothes.

She heard the front door open, then close again a few moments later. Her mom and siblings had left.

Dawn quickly finished getting ready and looked around her room, feeling like she had forgotten about something. On her desk lay the small piece of paper. The letter. Dawn was still confused about it, and had plenty of time before she needed to leave for school, so she unfolded and reread it. One part jumped out at her.

it is a faerie child's nature to wonder and doubt that life is just as they see it.

Was it saying she was a half-faerie? Whoever had written the letter seemed to think she was, but Dawn was almost certain not. Almost. She picked up her phone and did what she always did when she was confused; she googled it. She opened the Wiki page and read:

Half-faeries are as they sound, half faerie sand half human. They are considered metahuman because of their tendency to have a certain gift or 'power.' All faeries are born with a unique gift that only one faerie possesses, This gene carries to the child 96% of the time, which means children who have one parent who is human and one faerie have a 96% chance of being a half-faerie. In 1409 a mother claimed to bear a child who was a half-faerie...

Dawn skipped ahead to the important parts.

Many of these children are unaware of their true genealogy for many years. This is because a phoenix feather has the ability to bind undiscovered powers, or to strengthen known ones. The human parent takes advantage of the child not knowing about their power, but half-faerie children naturally discover their powers because of their natural sense to doubt. Also the children can sense their power more and more as time goes on. Depending on the gift, children may overcome the phoenix feather's bindings as early as 7 or never. These phoenix feathers can be found in jewelry, false teeth, or other objects always kept with the child.

The locket.

The dreams.

This was getting too crazy.

Her mom would laugh at her, or kill her, if she asked.

She looked down at her locket. Even if it wasn't true...

She had found that boost of confidence she needed, be it one based on complete craziness.

Dawn grabbed the chain of her locket and in one strong motion, tugged it as hard as she could.

Snap!

Chapter 4

Dawn didn't know what to expect, but for some reason she had expected something. Maybe something had happened, but only internally. Either way, she held her locket with it's broken chain in her hand, and finally did what she had always wanted to do; she dropped it in the trash.

Now for her next order of business: seeing if she was a metahuman. Freezing time was what all her dreams were themed around, but Dawn had no idea how she could actually do the whole stopping-everything-in-the-entire-world. She looked at herself in the mirror on the wall. She looked like an ordinary girl, with too much hair and not enough clothes. Her neck was too big and her legs were too short and she was just too normal. But she wasn't, and she could feel that now, feel it more and more like a song slowly growing, and she couldn't wait until she reached the chorus.

Dawn closed her eyes, and behind them saw not black but bright, endless white. She smiled, in joy and freedom, and in excitement. Her childhood dreams were coming true! That reminded her of an old song she didn't quite know, yet her voice knew the tune and so she hummed. And Dawn sat alone, staring with her eyes closed at a white nothing while humming a tune that didn't exist to anyone, even her.

Sometime Dawn realized she either needed to figure out her power or go to school, which would end at 3:00 and result in her having to go home and face the consequences of taking off her locket. The latter didn't sound too tempting so she prayed she could figure her power out before the end of the school day. She switched out laundry again and glanced at the time. 6:49. She had plenty of time before she needed to leave. She did have enough time for a shower, after all. Humming a different (real) song now, Dawn grabbed a towel and turned on the shower. She slipped out of her clothes and stepped into the bathtub, switching the shower head on and grabbing the shampoo. As Dawn scrubbed her scalp her humming turned into singing, and, because Dawn loved music so much, she was pretty much dancing to the tune by the time the shampoo was rinsed out. A part of her mind said, "hey, let's snap along while this conditioner is workin' it's magic conditiony stuff" and the voice sounded pretty mellow and calm so Dawn agreed and snapped along.

After about 5 seconds she realized something was wrong. She froze in place, wondering what. Then she realized the water had stopped. She looked down at her hands, then snapped once.

The water started again.

She snapped again.

It stopped.

I can... turn off and on the shower? That was the lamest power Dawn had ever heard of, and if that was it she'd need to find some superglue for that locket. She turned around to look at the shower head, only to gasp.

Water droplets were floating in the air between her and the shower head.

She snapped her fingers. They sprayed into her eyes.

She snapped again. The drops stopped mid-fall and she cupped her hands to grab them out of the air. They puddled into her hands at her touch, but when she put her hands by her sides again to let them fall the droplets just sat in the air, slowly falling and very much resembling a lava lamp bubble.

She snapped her fingers. The water hit the shower floor with a loud splash!

So this was her power. Dawn wasn't too sure why, but she felt calm. Freakishly calm. Not really calm, but... content. Like she had sat in front of an impossible puzzle and someone came up and snapped their fingers and it was together in an instant. It felt like she was cheating, almost, but cheating at what? At life? Dawn deserved to cheat, deserved to have this power and it deserved to have her. She quickly finished up her shower and got dressed, thinking hard as she did. Imagine walking to school! She could spend almost all morning better readying herself for the day and spend literally no time walking to school. If she wasn't doing her schoolwork and she saw a teacher come over she could snap and have a page full of math in the blink of an eye. If her mom demanded to look through her phone she could easily delete any and all texts about guys and complaints about her mom and party plans and everything else she did that her mom would flip about... Wait. Her mom. Her mom didn't have total control anymore. She could do literally anything humanly possible and her mom could do absolutely nothing to stop her. She could leave and go to Jump City, CA and be a Teen Titan if she really wanted!

Wait. She COULD.

She could leave right now, leave behind her mom, her lazy siblings, her school enemies and heck her friends were just wannabes who thought she was the next recruit of the populars. She could leave everything behind and claim her favorite name ever, Cress (it was the name of the main character of a really good book she read when she was little) as her own. She could be a Teen Titan.

Just then there was a loud CRASH! outside and Dawn ran to investigate only to find Raven, THE RAVEN, standing in front of the front door, now lying in pieces on the ground.

"Freeze, demon. I don't know what you are but I know-"

Snap, and Dawn stood in silence, laughing to herself as she walked toward the frozen Raven. She was here! Sure, it wasn't the best of circumstances, but hey! Better than nothing!

Dawn wished she could unfreeze Raven, and the same voice that told her to snap said, "blow on her face."

Weird... but okay. She tried it, and it worked. Raven unfroze, yelling, "that you..." her words trailed off as a confused look came over her face. "How did you... Teleportation! Of course, I should have known, with that kind of energy..."

"Excuse me while I interrupt your completely wrong thoughts, but, like you, I don't know what I am either. However, I believe I am called a metahuman, and please stop yelling or you'll give me a headache."

"How dare you..." Raven snarled, but looked as confused as Dawn knew she probably was. Dawn quickly explained to Raven her very recent discoveries of the locket, the letter, and her power.

"A half-faerie..." Raven murmured. "Huh. You're one creature I've actually never met. Well, you can stop time, and I am a Teen Titan, and you're coming with me." And with that Raven opened a portal below their feet and they both fell into the black abyss.

Chapter 5

When they fell onto the ground again, Dawn immediately noticed she was not in Texas.

"Home sweet home." Raven said in her ever-depressing voice.

"You mean... we're in... Jump City!? The Jump City!?"

"The one and only." was Raven's only response before she turned away from Dawn and started floating, floating down the sidewalk.

Dawn stumbled as part of her mind said, "keep up!" while another said "ohmigod it's Raven the Raven and she is floating and she wants me to follow her ohmigod". She managed to walk along, though, and realized time had unfrozen when she had gone through the portal. A picture popped into Dawn's head, of her standing on a barren field while balloons rose around her, each containing moment after moment. Dawn could just reach out and grab one of the strings to stop the balloon from floating away, but if she, say, fell into a hole for even a millisecond the balloon would slip away from her grasp and into the sky.

She realized Raven had stopped only when Dawn accidentally ran into the building in front of them while in her thoughts.

"Oops." she said.

"C'mon." Raven created a giant hand and used it to pick Dawn up and set her down in front of the door, which slid open.

"Where are we?" Dawn asked, looking around. They were in an elevator of some sort, going up.

"Ya know that big tower that all those teen superheroes live in? Well, that's where we are." Raven stated this calmly, like she was just discussing lunch plans.

Dawn gaped at Raven.

Then the elevator doors opened, and they were facing a big room with a fancy-looking couch and a giant TV. She assumed it was the living room.

A small cat with a green tint to it's fur was curled up on the couch sleeping.

"Kitty!" Dawn exclaimed, forgetting everything. She could be holding a winning lottery ticket and still be distracted by cats. She ran over to pet it. The cat purred in sleepy delight, then saw Raven and said, "Hey, Mama! How was Texas?"

Dawn jumped away and screeched, "AAAH! Your cat is talking!"

Then the cat looked like it just popped out of existence and a green boy with pointy ears sat where it was. Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, allow me to introduce you to..." she looked at Dawn. "Umm, what's your name again?"

Dawn took over the introduction. "Hi, I'm D-Cress, and I am a half-faerie, and I have the power to stop time. Raven, would you care to explain why I'm here because I sure don't know."

Raven looked at Beast Boy. "It's okay, Cress, he knows why you're here. We don't have to tell him."

"But I don't..." Dawn muttered as Beast Boy said, "You should probably talk to Robin 'bout this one. Ya know, since he's the leader and stuff?"

"What's this I hear about strong, courageous, handsome Robin?" and Robin walked in, followed by Starfire, who said, "Yes, I would like to see the cause of the commotion."

Dawn's mind was exploding.

"This is Cress." Raven said. "She is a metahuman with an amazing power. Cress, can you show them?"

"Sure." And Dawn- Cress- snapped. The Titans froze, and Cress walked over to Robin first. Since he was the leader, he should know first. She blew on his face, and he 'woke up.' He blinked, then said, "Ah. Teleportati-"

"No. Look around."

He did. A look of confusion came over his face. "You can... freeze people?" he asked.

Cress sighed. She glanced around, then pointed at a bird outside. "See that bird? When I snap my fingers, it will keep flying and never know that anything happened. Why? Because I stopped time, not it."

Robin's face of confusion turned into one of shock. "Woah," he breathed.

"Well, there's my power. Can I start time again now?" Cress asked.

For a moment Robin looked almost wistful. "Yeah, I guess."

Cress snapped, and the other Titans unfroze. All of them looked very confused. Robin, however, said, "Cress here can stop time. She can 'wake' anyone from their frozenness and I think it would be extremely useful."

"I agree." Raven said, "Her power could help us in almost any situation. We would be able to stop the enemy with little to no damage to the city."

Robin turned to Cress. "Cress, would you like to be the next Teen Titan?"

Two months later

Jump City, CA. July 20, 1:37 PM. Friday.

Cress was exhausted. The others were, too, and it was showing in their battle. "Guys! Should I..."

Robin looked at her and grimly nodded. Cress snapped her fingers and sighed as the battle stopped around her, as everything stopped around her. She stumbled to Robin, leaning on her non-injured leg, and blew on his face. He blinked, then helped her over to the other Titans so she could unfreeze them too.

"We are deeply sorry, Cress." Starfire said as she looked over at Cress.

"That's okay, Star. It's my choice." Cress had convinced Robin to let her stay with the Titans though her power took quite a toll on her. It was well worth it, for Cress had nowhere to go if she were to leave; her old family would reject her and anyone else would call her a freak. The Titans were just like her, different from society in a drastic way, but at least with them she was considered a superhero, not a circus act.

The others went off to destroy the giant robots while Cress stayed behind, using what was left of her strength just to keep them all awake and unfrozen. She listened to the clanking of metal as they took apart the robots so they couldn't do anything at all, and when they had finished, she heard the air whistle around Starfire and Raven as they flew back at their high speeds. But she saw nothing, only white where light hit one of her eyes and black where a shadow fell across the other.

Cress had been with the Teen titans for two months now, and in that time had used her power to stop Jump City from being destroyed at all most of the time they'd fought a serious enemy.

She was blind because of it.

When they got back to the tower, Raven pulled Cress into her room. "There must be a way I can fix this!" she said, not for the first time, and Cress heard rustling as she opened her spellbook. It was no use, Cress knew, for Raven had looked many times before with no luck. She heard Raven go into her room, still checking her spellbook for something that could bring back Cress's sight.

"Ah hah!" Raven explained a few hours later. "There may not have been anything in my spellbook, but I have been searching in another realm for someone who may know anything. Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" Cress felt the ground open up below her as she fell into the darkness.

They landed again just a moment later, this time in a chilly, purpley place. Cress' footsteps echoed as she walked across the- very strange textured, perhaps stone- floor. Raven floated alongside her. "We're in the Temple of the Timelord. Your power must have something to do with him, and he might understand the effects your power has on you."

"Of course I do, darling, I practically am Cress's power!" a voice exclaimed from behind them, and suddenly a man was there, though Cress had no idea what he looked like; she still could only see a purpley light. "Now, sweetie, what is it you seek?"

"Sight." she answered truthfully. The man laughed, then snapped his fingers and for the first time in over two months, she could see.

"Oh, wipe that look off your face, darling, it's not permanent. Business purposes only." The faerie man said. Cress looked around. They were definitely not in the average temple- they were in a cave with smoothed flat floors that occasionally protruded upward in stalagmites. Oil lamps hung from the cave ceiling far above, flicking a yellowish light against the purple toned rock that seemed to make up the entire cave. The effect was strange, and beautiful.

"My friend here," Raven explained, "she can stop time. However, every time she uses it, her vision goes a little. She is almost fully blinded now by the effects of her power. Please, can you help us to bring her sight back, permanantly?"

The man laughed, a high yet very real-sounding noise. "Oh, sweetie! You think poor Cress here can have the power to control time and nothing will happen!? Look, I don't know how it works down in demon town or wherever you come from, but this girl is part faerie and faeries pay for their gifts. There's nothing I can do." Cress watched him turn and start to walk away. "Wait!" she called.

He stopped.

Cress wracked her brain for an idea. "What if... what if instead of me losing my vision when I used my power, I lost a different sense?"

He turned and started walking toward Cress.

"You would be willing to give up... some other sense for your vision?"

Cress nodded.

"Deal!" the faerie man exclaimed. "Which sense? Your hearing? That seems suitable. What do you think, Cress?"

"No!" both Raven and Cress exclaimed at the same time.

The Timelord smiled. "Hmmmmm..." were his only words as he paced slowly, tapping his chin. Suddenly he froze in place, a blank expression on his face. He turned toward Cress as a smile crept upon his face. "Oh, I have an idea." he said.

Chapter 6

"Raven, dearest, you may have to step out for a moment while we... make arrangements." The faerie man said in his ever-mysterious voice.

"No way! Whatever you have in mind you can tell her!" Cress exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna leave my friend defenseless against a creep like you!" Raven added.

The man laughed, a booming and echoing laugh that was everywhere at once. "Oh, poor, poor Raven." he said, then turned his attention to Cress. He looked her square in the eye and smiled. Then he snapped his fingers.

"No!" Cress yelled when she saw that Raven was frozen. She looked at the Timelord. "What did you do to her!?"

"Oh, nothing, darling," he chuckled, "she's fine. In fact, she won't remember ever even being frozen."

The faerie watched as recognition crept upon Cress's face, then confusion. She asked, "But... if... why aren't I frozen too?"

"Sweetie, it's your power! When time stops, you don't; that's how gifts work."

Cress snapped. Nothing happened; Raven remained frozen.

"Silly girl, you can't start time if you didn't stop it. Now, back to the deal..." he slowly walked toward her. In an eerily calm voice, he half-whispered, "What do you think I might have in mind, Cress?"

She took a step back. "I have no idea." she responded.

"Oh, come now, you mustn't be so quick to answer. Think about it." The man waited, but Cress was silent. "Let me rephrase the question: How's your new life, Cress?"

She tensed. "It's... fine, thanks for asking."

"Oh, really? Miss anyone?"

"Who would I miss?"

"Oh, I don't know..." he chuckled. "Maybe... people from back in Texas? Maybe your mother? Brothers? Your sister? Or maybe..." Cress knew what he was about to say, but it still felt like a stab in the chest: "Maybe you miss Dawn."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cress said in a low, angry voice. She took another step back and found herself against a stalagmite.

"Oh, but you do! Don't you remember Dawn? That small, quiet girl with the frizzy blonde hair? I think you went to school with her. Remember?"

Cress stumbled again, and slid to the floor. The Timelord stood a few meters away, gazing down at her like she was a new plaything that he didn't know how to work.

"Let's see... I think she was in Drama class with you. She loved Greek mythology? Hated country music? You and her, it was like you were connected. You were very close. Very, very close. Remember?" He was standing over her now, with one hand on the tip of the stalagmite to keep his balance as he leaned over to peer down at her. "Do you remember, Dawn?" he whispered.

"What do you want from me?" she said, barely audible as she turned away from him, looking at frozen Raven, at the oil lamps, anything but the Timelord.

"Oh, I think we both know what I want." he replied, just as softly. "Do we have a deal?"

Cress huddled against the stalagmite, and paused. Fear coursed through her, fear of her vulnerability. She managed to say, "How much will I lose?"

"That depends how much power you use. They will drift back, most of them, unless you push your limits." she didn't have to turn away from the stalagmite to see his smile, but she did. She turned around and looked him in the eye as he repeated, "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes." she breathed.

The Next Day

"I still don't understand why that Timelord guy just let you go." Cyborg said over breakfast. "I mean, he just gave you your vision back and nothing else? It doesn't add up."

"Yeah, it is pretty mysterious." Robin agreed. "Are you sure nothing else happened?"

"Like I said, he just told me my powers wouldn't be as strong. He said they were feeding off of my energy, and my vision was just showing the most signs. He just balanced the energy borrowing pools out." Cress downed a cup of orange juice in one gulp, then looked at Raven. "You remember what happened, right?"

Raven nodded. "Everything she said is true. He warned us about her powers, how she couldn't use them too much or she would use too much energy and possibly end up comatose. Then we thanked him and left."

"Weird." Beast Boy murmured.

"Yes. The situation is indeed very, as the Tamaranian people would say, gloorbfoolk."

Starfire added.

Raven poked at her eggs. "I'm not hungry. I'm gonna go meditate." She briskly stood up and walked away, leaving Cyborg to shovel down the rest of her meal.

"I'm not hungry, either." Cress followed Raven toward the hallway with the bedroom doors. Deep in thought about what she had gained, and what she would lose, after the Timelord's trade, Cress almost ran into Raven as she walked into her room.

"We need to talk." Raven said, and closed the door.

Cress walked to her bed slowly and sat on the edge. "Okay... what about?"

"That trade. I know something more happened there. Tell me what."

Cress tried to look as calm as she usually was, and failed. "Raven, you were there. You know exactly what happened."

"See, I thought that, too. I thought that the deal was fair and the Timelord was nice and kind and then I thought more."

Cress stared at Raven, intimidated and trapped.

"Cress, what did you trade?" Raven asked, suddenly with the most gentle voice Cress had ever heard. She looked down at her feet, at her new shoes that didn't have any holes in them, at her pants that weren't hand-me-downs, at the newly installed carpet that matched the newly painted walls in the newly built room, built just for her. These people in her new life were so kind. If they knew she had somewhere to go back to, something they didn't have... would they send her back?

"Raven, could there be a reason to kick me out of the Titans?" she asked hesitantly.

Raven paused, and looked at herself in the mirror. "Well, if you turned evil, or went crazy or something... basically if you posed a threat to us. Why?"

"Nothing else?"

"No..."

Cress sighed. "I'm... not... like you. Like any of you. Not in a super extreme way, but still..."

Raven stood confused.

"I have a family. I have a home, and a comfortable one. I have a life, had a normal life, and didn't want it."

Slightly confused, and looking a little betrayed, Raven asked, "So... why'd you leave? You gave up your humanity. That's something none of us could've chosen to do."

Cress was hit with a wave of guilt. Raven was right. "I guess I just wanted there to be more to life. My mom was kind of abusive and she told me a bunch that I was worthless." Her voice cracked on the last word, and she realized she was crying. "And when I first heard about the Teen Titans, I saw that for you guys, there was more. When I finally figured out my powers, I realized there was a 'more' for me, too... if I wanted it."

Raven sat by her and brushed Cress's tears off. "Hey, so what? You have a life. That's not a crime! You don't have to have a terrible, traumatizing history to be a Titan. That would be the worst rule, like, ever." Raven said with a chuckle.

"But that's the thing. The trade... he didn't just take away some of my power or anything. I... traded something else. Raven, I have to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone else. Promise you won't."

"Okay, I promise. Now what did you trade?" Raven asked.

"Let's start with this: my name's not really Cress."

Robin paced in the hallway. Raven was apparently mad at him, because no matter how much he knocked, she wouldn't open the door. But why was she mad...?

Robin realized there were voices coming from Cress's room. He crouched by the door to try to listen, but the voices were inaudible.

Beast Boy walked into the hallway, munching on a burrito and carrying a cup of soymilk. "Hey Robin, what's up?" he asked.

"Shh! I'm trying to listen!" Robin whispered absentmindedly.

"Woah. Are you spying on Cress?" Beast Boy asked with a shocked voice but also a small smile.

"What!? No! I'm not spying, I'm... looking at this door! The bottom seems to be uneven... well, I'll call the carpenter tomorrow. Enjoy that burrito, Beast Boy!" Robin said as he jumped up and walked away with a fake smile on his face.

"Right, uneven doors..." Beast Boy said. He started walking into his room, but paused.

"Hmm... maybe this door is uneven..." he mumbled, crouching by the door. It was no use; he couldn't hear a thing. He downed his soymilk and pressed the cup against the door to hear better. "Maybe I should check the door's heartbeat to see if it's okay." he said, and pressed his ear against the cup.

Chapter 7

Later that night, the Titans tried to relax in the tower. Cress and Cyborg were playing Chess, and, though Cress's Chess skills were far superior to his, Cyborg kept beating her easily.

"Boo-yah!" he yelled for the seventh time as he moved his knight into place. "Checkmate."

Cress silently cleaned up the game, neatly putting the pieces away in the small cupboard above the stove. She shook her blonde curls out of her face, a worried expression painting her face blotchy and pale.

"Everything okay?" Robin asked, always noticing her emotions before anyone else did.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she sighed, and rubbed her brow. "I just need a breather. Don't lock me out," she said with a smile, heading for the elevator.

As soon as the doors slid closed, Cress sat on the ground. She didn't need fresh air, she needed an enemy, something or someone to attack the city so she could use her powers and forget, forget it all. She wanted nothing more than that, to forget her past, before Jump City, and the Timelord had no idea how grateful she was for their trade. She knew that her mother was sitting at home, wondering where her daughter was. She knew her half of her and her sisters bedroom remained untouched, her old wardrobe collecting dust. She knew her peers at school were making cards for her family, saying apologies for their lost daughter while her mother alone prayed that not all hope was lost, even after over two months.

She also knew that she could never go back.

Cress's memories were like knives in her hand, not lethal but more painful every second they remained. She needed to lose them, before Dawn took her.

The next day

Cress woke up to the sound of a loud buzzer, signaling there was an attack on the city. She leapt out of bed and slid open her closet to throw on her usual outfit of black leggings, a black camisole, and a rainbow dress printed in tribal patterns. She dashed to the living room to grab her shoes just as the rest of the team groggily stumbled out of their bedrooms. She groaned. Once again, she was the only one up. She slipped her ever-cold feet into her fuzzy brown boots, waiting still for the rest of the Titans to slowly drag their minds from dreamland and into their own body. She was munching on a blueberry muffin by the time everyone else was ready to go.

"You want us to wait while you finish that muffin?" Cyborg asked in an irritated voice. Cress responded by snapping her fingers, then shoving the rest of the muffin in Cyborgs frozen mouth. She snapped again.

"Hey!" he yelled, spewing crumbs everywhere.

"C'mon, team, Control Freak isn't gonna wait for us to arrive!" Robin said impatiently.

"He won't have to." Raven said, smiling at Cress. She had been ready just after her, and knew just how she felt. Cress smiled and snapped again just after Raven said, "See you, losers!" Cress unfroze Raven and Raven opened a portal below their feet. They appeared a moment later across town, right in front of Control Freak. Time had started, as Cress knew it would when she went through one of Raven's portals, but they still had a huge advantage to the other Titans, who were probably just then hitting the road.

"Aah!" he yelled, running into them as he ran from the comics store, where, according to the report, the clerk had mispronounced a characters name in a comic book and when Control Freak corrected him, the clerk shrugged and said, "whatever, dude." That clerk was now being attacked by comic books.

"This is pathetic." said Raven.

"Yeah, dude, it's just a stupid comic book," Cress said.

"JUST A STUPID COMIC BOOK!?" Control Freak roared, pointing his control at her. "Well, who are you to say I'm pathetic!? Who even are you? Don't tell me you're a Teen Titan- a rainbow dress and winter boots, ooh, I'm so scared! Not!" Control Freak pointed his remote at her and pushed a button. She was blasted back against an office building, and stumbled a moment before standing up. Raven took over the fight, but was immediately imprisoned in a giant bubble. Cress's arm was cut, her friend was trapped, and she could already feel a bump growing on her head, but none of that mattered to her. What mattered was that her boots were on fire.

She quickly kicked them off her feet, eyes ablaze with anger. "Oh, you did NOT want to do that." she said with a voice straight from hell.

"And what are you gonna do about it, Rainbow girl? Throw a rock at me? I bet you don't even have any powers." Control Freak taunted.

"Dude! I've been here for two months! TWO MONTHS! How do you not know who I am!?" she screamed, barefoot in the early morning and illuminated by the streetlights. She did just look like a little girl, Control Freak thought, right before his remote disappeared from his hand. His grin fell, and he quickly dropped to his knees to search for the missing gadget.

"Looking for this?" the girl asked from behind him, dangling the remote in front of her. "Here. Take it. I don't need it." She tossed the remote to him, and he caught it, infuriated. Who was this girl? He pointed his remote at her and pushed a different button, a cage appearing around the girl. "I've got you now!" he cackled, turning to fight Raven, who managed to escape the bubble.

"Hey, Control Freak, you might not want to make an electric cage next time!" Cress said before snapping. The electricity flow stopped, and Cress slipped through the wide-spaced bars that power had danced between just before. She was tired and wanted to quickly get the fight over with, so instead of starting time again, she just took the controller from Control Freaks hand and set it on the ground. She then retrieved a brick that had broken off the office building that Cress had crashed into at the beginning of the fight. She snapped, and Control Freak became disoriented again. "Hey Control Freak! Any last words?" she called before dropping the brick on the remote. A satisfying crack rang out in the night, and Raven quickly bound him with dark energy as he mourned his remote, crying, "Noooooooo!"

The other Titans pulled up, and Cyborg assessed the situation. "Dang, you handled that fast!" he said, almost to himself.

"Yeah, we did!" Cress exclaimed, and high-fived Raven.

"Good work, team!" Robin commented as he handcuffed Control Freak, who was blubbering away about how they would pay, he would be back, and many other lies. The Titans chuckled at his ridiculousness. Then Starfire yawned and almost fell over, but jerked awake just before she could. "I think we all need to finish resting. Who knows what could happen today?" Robin said with an authoritative tone. Cyborg hopped back into the T-car, with Beast Boy, Robin, and Starfire, who was too tired to fly, in tow. Raven opened a portal beside her and asked, "hey, Cress, need a lift?"

Cress glanced at Raven before saying, "Nah, I might hit the pizza place or something before I come back; I'm already awake, and once I'm awake, I don't sleep again easily."

"Okay then, see you at the tower." Raven replied before stepping through the swirl of darkness and disappearing.

Cress turned to her scorched boots, knowing they were beyond repair. She walked down the street in the early light of dawn, and thought of the day she first came to Jump City. It was dawn when she first discovered the truth, or some of it. She still didn't know the full story, but digging deeper into her past would mean going back, and she never wanted to go back. She would not waste this opportunity for a new life. She would never be Dawn again.

Cress slowly walked down the cracked sidewalk, rough against her feet, but cool and refreshing. She turned to enter the park.

Jump City Park was empty, with the exception of the small animals dancing in the trees. She sat on one of the stone benches lining the path, watching the sun slowly peek over the horizon like a shy child on the first day of school.

Dawn opened her eyes. She tried to turn her head to look around, but couldn't. She couldn't move anything, as a matter of fact. She felt strangely peaceful about that...

She was in a brightly lit room. The smell of chemicals and sickness overwhelmed her, and her gown- for she realized she was wearing some sort of gown- felt scratchy and thin, like paper. A soft beeping emanated from a machine near her.

I must be in a hospital, she realized.

She lay there, unmoving but unable to sleep again. After a half hour or so, she heard footsteps. Someone walked into her room, and quickly she closed her eyes. Dawn listened, but could only hear shuffling; then she felt the whole bed shake, and something-someone- grabbed an IV in her arm and pulled. So strange it was that she was moving, but stranger that she didn't care. As the mystery man pulled all of the needles out of her, she heard the beeping machine replace it's beeping with one long sound. She tried, she really did, to feel the needles as they were being removed; she could feel them, but not their pain, she realized. She was being moved now, her bed being pushed through the hospital and outdoors, then into a big van of some sort. A man leaned over her face, unidentifiable with his mask, and said, "You're awake. Good. My plan wouldn't work if you were comatose forever." He left her lying in the back of the van, and she heard him climbing into the front seat. Then the motor started and the car pulled away from the hospital lot.

"What do you mean, gone!?"

Robin rubbed his forehead and tried to focus. Cress was gone, and if her power got in the wrong hands... Robin took a deep breath. Maybe she woke up and left while time was frozen. Maybe there was a mistake at the hospital and she was just in the wrong room. Maybe one of the other Titans had taken her back to the tower-

Or maybe Slade was calling him right then.

Robin flipped open his communicator. "Slade." he said.

"Robin. You seem well."

"I know you did something with Cress. Tell me-"

"Cress?" Slade sounded genuinely confused, barely traceable with his ever-calm voice. "If you mean your little friend, don't worry. She's in safe hands." The camera turned, and Robin could see a bed with a dim spotlight illuminating it. On the bed was Cress, asleep and occasionally shivering. She was also hooked up to about a million wires.

"Let her go!" Robin yelled.

Slade laughed. "Or what, Robin?" he asked, and ended the call.

"No!" Robin whipped around and stomped into the tower.

"He-hello?" Dawn called. She was lying in a bed, with a dim spotlight on her. There were no other lights in the room that she could see, nor any people. Wires stuck to her skin like little stickers, except these didn't have smiley faces or stars on them. She put her feet on the floor to stand up, but as soon as her skin touched the ground she felt an electric volt of energy zap through her. She quickly pulled her feet back. No standing up, then.

Dawn heard a loud click at the far end of the room, and one by one lights flicked on to reveal to her her surroundings.

She was in a warehouse, or some sort of factory. Giant gears turned slowly above her, rusty and unused, it seemed.

"Hello?" she called again. She saw the silhouette of a man appear by one of the many shipping crates that sat in the massive room. Then the man stepped into the light and Dawn could see him. He was the same man who had kidnapped her, and he still wore that mask.

"Who are you?" Dawn called, feeling for some reason like... nothing. She didn't feel anything emotionally; she knew she should feel afraid, but she just... didn't.

"Poor dear. You remember nothing?" the man asked. He sighed. "Let's start at the beginning then. I am Slade. I assume your name is Dawn, because that's the name you mumbled when I asked you who you were; your friends do confuse me very much, though."

Dawn smiled. "I couldn't tell; your voice is so monotone, you could be dying and I wouldn't have the slightest clue." The man- Slade- laughed at that. He was strange, the man, with his monotone voice and his metal suit, but he also seemed... human. Vulnerable, trying to hold himself up to stay away from something far below. She could tell, though, that the something was long gone. His color was... hmm. A dark, steely reflective blue, she decided.

"I see you're profiling me. Yes, I found that very interesting when I first found you- not only do you have that fabulous gift that I will train you to wield like a sword, but you possess the power to profile people. Aren't you a lucky one?"

Dawn watched him as he circled the small bed. "If you're talking about my synesthesia, it's not really a superpower. It's frustrating, honestly. I'd rather just be normal."

Slade chuckled. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, as they say." He took her arm and started pulling the wires off. "Come, now, we must start your training."

Later that night, Dawn tossed and turned in her slumber.

Cress! Where are you? A boy's voice.

We know Slade has you. We don't know his location, but as soon as we do we'll free you. Another boy's voice, a little lower and more determined sounding.

Friend, why are you not escaping? Your power should grant you that choice. A girl spoke now, speaking strangely like English wasn't her first language.

Dawn didn't know what to say, didn't want to say anything to the voices; she wasn't who they thought she was, and-

Dawn. A girl's low voice interrupted her thoughts. Dawn, I know you don't know what's going on, and you probably don't even know that anything's wrong, but listen. You have to get out of there. Slade is a bad guy. You're one of us, a hero. He just wants to use you to destroy the city. Cre- Dawn, you may not know it but you have an amazing power. Your power was pushed to the limit, and it broke your memory. Trust us, Dawn. Escape.

The voice was silent after that. Dawn awoke from her dream covered in sweat and trembling. The voices scared her for some reason. They felt true, though, and that's what scared her. She needed to find answers, soon.

The next morning, Dawn felt like she was keeping a secret, not telling Slade of her dream. It was just a dream, though, and telling Slade her dreams seemed wrong, somehow. Maybe because he wasn't exactly the most fatherly figure. That was probably it, Dawn decided. She downed her orange juice in one gulp, barely savoring what she had known as a luxury in her old life. She was not supposed to think about her old life, though; she needed to focus on her training. She stood up and her legs cried out in protest. Her arms ached as they held the empty plate and carried it to the small sink in the corner of her room/kitchen. Training the day before had been tough, and left her muscles sore and exhausted, but stronger. She would be able to fight with ease, Slade said, when she had learned all she needed to. Then the real work would begin.

Back at the tower, Robin paced in front of the massive window overlooking the city. Their message had gotten through to Cress, but she was still missing. Why hadn't she escaped? The question plagued Robin's mind. Perhaps Slade had put her hands in a lock of some sort, so she could snap time and escape. Maybe she was in a locked room, locked from the outside, and no matter what, couldn't get out.

Or maybe she was staying by choice.

Robin refused to believe that; she wouldn't betray them, not like that. She may have only been a Titan for a few months, but she seemed to love her life in Jump City. She reminded him of Starfire in some ways, marveling at things like lava lamps, a lot of common music, their massive TV, and most of all, Robins gadgets.

She was fascinated by those. Robin would sometimes be absorbed in a movie and look up to see Cress taking apart one of his exploding shurinkens, or he'd find her tampering with one of his smoke bombs in the lab, then see him and run with an "eep!"

Robin didn't mind her strange behavior before; now, he wondered if it might be part of something bigger. She was an awfully secret person, almost more so than Raven. The two were good friends, and it was obvious why. The two were so alike, and they shared many secrets with each other when something troubled them. The change in Raven when Cress showed up was drastic.

That's it, Robin thought, and ran for Raven's room.


End file.
